Families of Whiddy Island disaster victims renew calls for justice in new documentary 

Radio programme  recounts the events of a fateful night in January 1979, through the voices of those whose lives remain profoundly affected by the devastating explosion of the MV Betelguese oil tanker

An aerial view of the Whiddy Island oil tanker Betelgeuse disaster at Bantry, West Cork.

Families of those who died in the Whiddy Island disaster have renewed calls for justice in a new documentary that explores the events leading up to the West Cork tragedy.

Produced by Donal O’Herlihy and Michael Lawless, the RTÉ Radio Documentary On One: Fire in the Sky recounts the events of a fateful night in January 1979, through the voices of those whose lives remain profoundly affected by the devastating explosion of the MV Betelguese oil tanker.

The airing of the documentary coincides with a demand from relatives and friends of those lost in the Betelguese tragedy for a State apology and an urgent review of Ireland’s failure to implement international maritime regulation.

In the early hours of Sunday, January 8, 1979, a fire began onboard the Betelgeuse which was docked at the jetty just off the shore of Whiddy Island. 

A subsequent explosion claimed the lives of all 50 people who had been on the tanker and jetty that night. Due to multiple failings in safety procedures, there had been no means of escape.

The documentary features workers and firemen who fought to control the blaze, locals who watched on in terror, and family members still coming to terms with lost loved ones. Many of those who have suffered are for the first time speaking out in the documentary.

We also hear from former president of Ireland Mary McAleese, who was a reporter for RTÉ at the time, and covered the subsequent tribunal appointed by the Irish government to investigate the incident. 

Ms McAleese condemns the “abominable” behaviour of players who were trying to “protect themselves from the avalanche of blame that was coming”.

Another powerful voice in the documentary is that of Michael Kingston, who had just turned four when his father Tim Kingston, the pollution officer for Whiddy, lost his life that night.

Mr Kingston has since devoted his life to safety at sea, becoming an international maritime lawyer and vice president of the French-Irish Association of Relatives and Friends of the Betelguese.

He is determined that a disaster like the one at Whiddy Island should never happen again, and has advocated strongly for an investigation into the subsequent conduct of authorities who investigated the Whiddy Island disaster.

On July 9, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union found that Ireland’s Department of Transport was in breach of regulations regarding maritime tragedies. 

The ruling found that the presence of two Transport department civil servants on the State’s Marine Casualty Investigation Board, was a potential conflict of interest.

An Garda Síochána have determined that no issue of criminality arises relating to the maritime accident investigations and that the matter is now closed.

Family and friends of those who died in the Whiddy Island disaster are now going to the High Court, applying for the Irish State to rectify their death certificates to state “unlawful death”, pursuant to ‘Right to Life’ provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights. 

Unlawful death has been established in similar disasters in Europe such as the Hillsborough disaster.

* Clarification:  On 2 and 4 October 2021 we published articles entitled 'Families of Whiddy Island Disaster victims renew calls for justice in documentary'  and 'Son of Whiddy victim criticises Gardaí for not pursing misconduct investigation'.

In the 2 October article we stated that on July 9, 2020 the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) found that Ireland’s Department of Transport was in breach of regulations regarding maritime tragedies and that the presence of two Transport Department civil servants on the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (“MCIB”) was a conflict of interest. In fact, the CJEU findings only identified a “potential” conflict of interest due to the presence of the two civil servants. There were no other findings.

The article on 4 October also referenced a complaint made to the Gardaí in January 2020 of potential misconduct in public office within the Department of Transport. While the Irish Examiner never sought to link the CJEU decision and the Garda complaint, we are happy to clarify that there is no connection between the CJEU case and the complaint to the Garda. Ultimately, and as stated in our article, a decision was made by An Garda Siochána that no issue of criminality arose and that the matter was now closed with the Garda. We are also happy to clarify that the MCIB has at no time had any involvement in the Oireachtas inquiry that followed the Whiddy Island tragedy.